Who was that masked man? The one who looked like an almost-trim and businesslike Donald J. Trump giving a State of the Union speech that - while full of bull - at least contained complete sentences and made some sense.
The only thing - other than the face - that really looked like vintage Donald Trump at Tuesday's State of the Union address was his insulting snub of Nancy Pelosi's outstretched hand when he ascended to the podium and handed her a copy of his speech. At the end of his performance - and that's what it was - he didn't even turn in her direction. She stood and, instead of clapping, neatly torn the paper copy of his speech across the middle.
Their actions said it all. The state of the union.
And today Trump assuredly will be acquitted of impeachment charges by a Senate of fools - chief among them our own Sen. Lamar Alexander, who acknowledges that Trump is guilty of trying to extort political dirt on his 2020 political opponent from a foreign power by withholding our tax-funded and Congress-approved military aid to Ukraine.
But wait for it. Shortly thereafter Trump will drop the careful good boy act and all but declare himself our king. Meanwhile, Pelosi after the speech told reporters that tearing up the president's prepared speech was "the courteous thing to do considering the alternative."
Later in a written statement she said: "The manifesto of mistruths presented in page after page of the address tonight should be a call to action for everyone who expects truth from the President and policies worthy of his office and the American people."
Yet the Washington Post wrote Wednesday morning: "A Gallup poll released Tuesday found [Trump's] approval rating at a record-high 49 percent. And Pelosi's party was mired in recriminations and embarrassment after a disastrous delay in reporting the first voter results of the 2020 campaign."
We think that's almost as much baloney as was packaged in Trump's speech - like his claim to protect health insurance for pre-existing conditions (even as his administration pursues a federal lawsuit that eliminates them) and his promise to always protect Medicare and Social Security, which he just recently called "entitlements" that must be trimmed back. They aren't entitlements. We paid for them all our lives. They are our savings accounts. If anything, the rich - who pay a pittance in taxes thanks to Trump's tax breaks to the wealthy - should be made to subsidize and increase them.
We think history will revel at the lies and corruption of Trump and the Republican Senate that later today will crown him. We think history also will question why we ordinary Americans sat quietly in our living rooms watching him give this almost "perfect" State of the Union address and - like Pelosi - mentally tore up his speech.
We fear that history will find that this forever, and rightly, impeached president will mark the metaphorical end of our great country.